Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area wins grant for program for kids

Thursday

Aug 28, 2014 at 12:01 AMAug 28, 2014 at 5:36 AM

Superintendent John J. Donahue announced Tuesday that Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is one of 65 national parks selected to receive a 2014 Ticket to Ride grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks.

Staff report

Superintendent John J. Donahue announced Tuesday that Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is one of 65 national parks selected to receive a 2014 Ticket to Ride grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks.

The $8,000 grant will support Over the River and Thru the Woods — a three-part program that includes a pre-trip school visit, an outdoor field trip day and a follow-up school visit for more than 500 third- and fourth-grade students introducing them to the DWGNRA and Pocono Environmental Education Center.

Now in its third year, the Ticket to Ride program provides money to make national park field trips possible for schools across the country.

"We know that one of the greatest barriers keeping America's youth from visiting their national parks is access to transportation," said Neil Mulholland, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation.

"Through our Ticket to Ride program, we eliminate that barrier and open up a world of experiential learning in our nation's largest classrooms — our national parks — and help inspire stewardship of these treasured places."

The outdoor field trip day includes a tour of PEEC's EcoZone! discovery room, where students will investigate life-size replicas of some of the "things they might see" in the park including a beaver lodge, bald eagle nest, black bear skeleton, skins and skulls of various mammals, fossils, plants and more.

The day also includes a hike on either the Two Ponds Trail or Fossil Trail, where the students will see 'live' what they investigated in the EcoZone!.

"We are so pleased to work with our partners at the National Park Foundation and at PEEC to bring this outstanding experience to so many kids who otherwise might not have an opportunity like this one," Donahue said. "And we are especially grateful to the Foundation and their partners for providing the necessary funds to make it happen. We couldn't have done this without their support."

For more information on the National Park Service, please visit nps.gov.